two high-performing team leaders who are breaking records in small markets. Desi Williams from Burley, Idaho, and Elizabeth McNally from Medicine Hat, Alberta, share how they've captured over 40% market share in communities where most agents settle for 20 deals a year.
Desi shares her journey of moving to Idaho and starting her real estate career with no sphere of influence. Her first big break came from courageously pitching a developer for a listing, which resulted in selling all 14 homes in the project. "I had to show I was willing to do the work," Desi explains, reflecting on how determination fueled her growth. Elizabeth, from Alberta, also built her business from the ground up by focusing on professionalism and innovation, introducing professional photography and staging to her market before these practices became the norm.
The conversation quickly turns to mindset and the habits that have fueled their success. Desi explains how consistency has been her superpower, maintaining 100+ conversations weekly to keep her business thriving. Elizabeth adds, "People often lose momentum after a big win, but that’s when it’s most important to keep going." Both agree that breaking through mental barriers, like fears of success or judgment, was essential to their growth.
Both leaders reveal their systematic approach to growth, with Desi noting a dramatic shift after implementing a CRM: "I went from 40 transactions to 89 that year." They discuss the importance of consistent follow-up, maintaining high conversation counts, and providing value-add services that differentiate them in their markets.
As the episode wraps up, the two discuss their upcoming mastermind for agents in small markets. "There’s not enough tailored advice for small communities, and we want to change that," says Desi.
Top Takeaways:
(4:02) How to build stamina for real estate success
(5:36) Why do some agents lose their edge?
(6:23) What happens when agents make their first $30k?
(8:39) What’s the “DoorDash” model for real estate?
(10:49) How do agents escape repetitive routines?
(14:18) Surrounding Yourself with the Right People
(17:56) Innovating in Small Markets
(22:55) How does staging impact listing performance?
(26:52) The Power of CRMs in Small Markets
(31:07) Overcoming Self-Doubt and Burnout
(36:02) The Impact of Networking and Growth Events
Tune in to discover how these innovative leaders have built multimillion-dollar businesses in markets others might overlook, and learn their strategies for maintaining exceptional performance regardless of market size.
About Desi Williams
Desi Williams is a Southern Idaho real estate broker committed to helping clients create their ideal home, whether it’s a starter house, a hobby farm, or a retirement property. As a mom of five, she understands the importance of finding the right space for every stage of life. With expertise in buying and selling, Desi provides stress-free transactions, marketing strategies for maximum exposure, and personalized financing recommendations. She’s passionate about guiding her clients every step of the way to ensure they achieve their goals.
Connect with Desi:
About Elizabeth McNally
Elizabeth McNally is the team lead for Real Estate Collective in Medicine Hat, Alberta, proudly leading Canada’s #1 small team at Real Broker. Her journey into real estate began early, working alongside her parents on renovation projects and property management in SE Hill. With over 17 years of experience, Elizabeth combines her hands-on knowledge and passion for real estate to offer client-focused services. Her team provides staging, professional photography, and strategic marketing to ensure properties stand out. Elizabeth is dedicated to helping buyers and sellers find not just a home, but the home.
Connect with Elizabeth:
Episode Transcript:
Brian Charlesworth 00:34
Hello everyone, and welcome back to another episode of the grit Podcast. I'm Brian Charlesworth, the founder of Sisu and your host of the show. And I'm really excited about today. Today is kind of a unique episode. I don't think we've ever had an episode like this. I have two team leaders on here with me who are high producing solo agents and team leaders. And these women, you want to talk about grit, they are in tiny markets, doing big numbers, making a lot of money. And most people, I think, would say there's no way somebody in that market, somebody up in Alberta or somebody in Burley, could build this kind of business. So at least that's what I would say, having driven through Burley a few times over the last so anyway, and I've been, I've spent plenty of time up in Alberta as well. Anyway, I have Desi Williams and Elizabeth McNally here with me. They are both powerful team leaders, just doing amazing things in these tiny markets. And it always astounds me, like, truly, I'm blown away when I hear about what they do. So why don't we start with you, Desi, just maybe just give us an overview of her business. Like, how big is your market? First of all, maybe both of you, before we get into your business, let's just talk about your market. Like, tell me about your market. How many people are up there?
Desi Williams 01:54
So in our area, between the two counties that kind of border each other, we have about, maybe tops 30,000 people around four, like 400 to 450
Brian Charlesworth 02:07
homes sell per year. 450 homes on the high side sell per year in your market? Yes, Wow, that's crazy. And how many of those do you sell? I sold 130 last year.
Desi Williams 02:20
What about you and your team? We did 179 last year, and this year we should do around 225
Brian Charlesworth 02:26
okay, so you're up in the close to 50% mark. Yeah. Okay, cool. Elizabeth, what about you?
Elizabeth McNally 02:33
Well, I'm from medicine at Alberta, so we're more of a small city, and we've got about 63,000 people
Brian Charlesworth 02:41
where I'm from, okay? And how many homes sell in your market? You're kind of putting me on the spot with that, as you were talking about it, I actually, I'm not sure.
Brian Charlesworth 02:50
Okay, roughly, guess
Elizabeth McNally 02:53
I would say that there's probably roughly about 802,000
Brian Charlesworth 02:59
homes per year. Okay, so maybe double, what does he selling? And, yeah, I think we're basically double Yeah, okay. And how many homes did you guys sell last
Elizabeth McNally 03:07
year? Our team did 250
Brian Charlesworth 03:10
Okay, yeah, okay, so you're both probably in the 30 to 50% range of your market. And that's impressive. Like, how do you get there? Like, I think most people would say I'm going to move to someplace bigger, because capturing that kind of market share would be difficult. But I'm sure there are a lot of people around the country and around call it North America, even overseas. But let's just talk North America for now. Sure, there are a lot of people that are in the exact same situation as you guys that are probably struggling to sell 50 homes a year. So what are the most important things? Like, I'm just trying to think from a mindset like, how would they even comprehend selling more homes? Because I think there's probably a big limitation in the mind. Let's talk about that for a minute. Like, how did you guys get beyond that? So
Desi Williams 04:02
I moved here about four years ago, well, seven years ago, and I really got into real estate and, like, made it my full time job about four years ago. And what I noticed is the other agents in my market, they're still doing anywhere from 12 to 20 deals per year, and that's what they've been doing forever. And so I think, like anything, you just have to build up that stamina. So kind of like when you start a new workout regimen at first, like you're lifting maybe, like 15 pounds, and then after you do it for a while, you build up that endurance and that strength, and you able to do 25 pounds, and then 30, and it kind of just happens gradually. So like at first, maybe you have one transaction pending at a time, well then you increase that capacity, and then you'll have two to four, and then when you go back to a month with one, you're like, Oh, this is boring. What do I do? And then all of a sudden you're like, oh, I have 10 pending. And then you're like, that feels like a lot. It feels stressful. But what I think you'll learn to that's true is I'll have 28 transactions pending at a time. And. Then they will feel the same stress level as when I have four or five like that. Stress doesn't go away. You just learn to handle it. So now I'll have anywhere from 20 to 38 transactions pending at all times, and you personally yes and able to handle it with these
Brian Charlesworth 05:18
now I don't care what size of market you're in. Most people cannot comprehend having 28 pending transactions personally at a time like That's amazing.
Elizabeth McNally 05:30
So I do think that that's it, though, like, sorry to jump in. I was thinking about what Desi is saying. It's definitely like a build, but you have to treat it like, I know a lot of agents, they'll work up and then take a bunch of time off, right? But it's like, you can't do that. You need to just be committed to it, and consistency is really the name of the game. You know, like, yeah, spending a lot of time making sure that you're checking up and following up with people, and eventually it's just a build, build, build, right? So,
Brian Charlesworth 05:56
yeah, I had an off site EOS meeting with our team just yesterday, our leadership team was in Utah for a behind the scenes of a real estate machine event with spring and we talked about it. And two of the key differentiators we feel like what we do is we help team owners and agents be more profitable and more disciplined. And discipline is what I think of when you guys say, what you say, I think I watch so many agents come in to springs team and other teams, you know, and they're, they're like, maybe they've never made 100 grand in their lives, right? And so they come in and they put four or five homes under contract in their first 3060 days, all of a sudden they make 30 grand. And they're like, whoa. Like, they're almost uncomfortable, like, like, oh well, I've never made this much money in a year before. Maybe, you know, so, so I'm just going to take my foot off the gas. And what they don't realize is it's really hard to get their momentum back. But if they would just keep their foot down the momentum, they would just be able to roll and roll like you ladies do and invest and provide amazing lives and all these things. But instead, they'd like to pull back and go back into that world of frustration that they're so comfortable in. How do you guys feel about that?
Desi Williams 07:12
I agree. So I think one of me and Elizabeth's superpowers is consistency and discipline and so like we have an agent. He closed 40 transactions last year, his first year in real estate, and he had 10 closings in December. Well, guess what his January looks like? 00, he's got one for January, nothing for February. And I was talking to him, I'm like, Well, look at your conversations in Sisu. You had like 30 conversations a week in December that's not going to get the results. So I know I consistently have at least 100 240 conversations per week, every week. Yeah,
Brian Charlesworth 07:49
yeah. I see that all the time with new agents, so they're always looking for an excuse, and probably not only new agents. Like this is all agents, right? If I have five under contract, or, let's go with your new agent who had 10 under contract in December. What do you think he's telling himself? I know what he's telling himself. What he's telling himself is, I have 10 under contract. The best use of my time is if I focus and make sure I get them all closed. Right? Is that what he's telling
Desi Williams 08:20
exactly what he said this morning in our one online.
Brian Charlesworth 08:22
Yeah. Okay, so you know, I've been there, I've seen this with hundreds of agents. So that's what he's telling himself, when the reality is, and this is what I love so much about Sisu client portal. I just did a webinar and talked about this on the client portal. But the beautiful thing about our client portal is, when I sold homes, I usually had five or six. I only did it for 18 months, but I usually had five or six under contract. And what I found is, if I just met with them on Wednesday afternoon and talk them through where we're at in that process, and most of those were listings, so I talked them through, you know, these are the showings we had, and this is what happened, and this is the feedback. But now with the client portal, it's all in there, every step of the journey. So it's like you can actually open that up in the zoom. Just spend a few minutes, and they have it on their phone all the time. But you can show them the roadmap, just like when you and I order DoorDash, we see the roadmap. We know when the food's going to be delivered, right? Same thing in a real estate transaction. Let's let them see the home inspections next now we're going to have an appraisal, you know, all those types of things. So anyway, I guess my point of that is the client portal helps. But even if you don't have Sisu in a client portal, you have to just say, look, if I spend an hour, Max a week with each of my people who are under contract, that's enough to keep them engaged, keep them happy and let them know that I'm working for them. Do you guys agree with that 100%
Desi Williams 09:45
Yeah. And I think that's really important, right? But then move on, and then have those conversation, yeah? Get back into the conversations to get that keep the business rolling, right? Yeah.
Brian Charlesworth 09:56
So I think one of the, one of the things as leaders, if we can help. Our agents. No, look, I want you to pick an afternoon a week when you're going to do that, and that will allow you to continue to prospect in the mornings, right? Yeah.
Desi Williams 10:08
And what I found is all those fires that are coming up, if you kind of ignore them for a little while, they get put out by other people. People find solutions, and you don't have to be the solution.
Brian Charlesworth 10:18
Well, especially if you're on a team, right? I mean, you guys have people supporting them. You have people doing transaction coordination, right? Yes, you both do that. Do have people doing that? Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, okay, good. So I want to go back. You talked about these people, Desi, and I'm guessing you have the same thing. Elizabeth, like, when you look at the rest of your market, there are probably a lot of people that have been doing the same thing for not just 10 years, but maybe 20 years, like, it's almost like Groundhog Day, right? A lot of people, they don't really have the vision of, I want to be bigger. They're just comfortable with where they are, and so they do the same thing over and over and over again, year after year. I mean, down to I'm going to drive and have a cup of coffee at this coffee shop at 8am every day, and then I'm going to go here. I'm going to drop my kids at school, and then I'm going to do this, and then, and everything is the same, including they're going to sell 10 to 20 transactions, 10 to 20 homes, let's call them a year. So, so how does somebody get out of being stuck in that? I
Elizabeth McNally 11:24
think adding new tools to your toolbox, connecting with, I mean, there's just such a broad base of communities out there, or, you know, social media, you can see what other people are doing. And I really think like adding new things and learning new things, plus getting your system styled in to be like reaching out to people and having those conversations, it'll just start building right? Like, you don't know what's going to happen if you just, like, don't go to that coffee shop that morning. Go to another one. Like, meet somebody else there, see what happens. Just like, change it up a little bit, because, you know, if you're constantly just like being repetitive, it's it's never going to change, right? So you just have to tell yourself, I'm going to do these things. I'm going to try something new. And maybe it's a little bit scary, but then all of a sudden, one day, you're going to say, like, Oh, I'm so glad I did that. Like I was thinking about how I joined inner circle totally out of the I think I'm the only Canadian in it, or I was at the time, right? I didn't know what I was doing. I just knew that I needed to connect with some people that were high level, that I just I needed to see what they were doing, right? And I just made that book, that ticket. And now, you know, I just have such an amazing community that I never would have had. Yeah,
Brian Charlesworth 12:43
that's awesome. So, just so you all know, the reason I know Desi and Elizabeth so well is because they are in springs inner circle, right? And so I've gotten to meet them at events and spend time with them in Mexico and and Arizona, and the list goes on. But I think what you're saying, Elizabeth, is maybe put yourself in some bigger circles.
Elizabeth McNally 13:04
Yeah, 100% like, put yourself into a bigger circle. Or even just like, I know everybody's scrolling all the time looking at what other people are doing. Like, try something that other people are doing, you know, like, just kind of mix it up and keep yourself fresh and see what works for you within your market, right? Yeah,
Brian Charlesworth 13:24
Desi, what do you want to add to that? So
Desi Williams 13:27
I think another aspect is when you get so comfortable, so you've been making the same amount every year, year after year after year, right? You get comfortable, and then you're almost like, there's this glass ceiling that you can't see, that you just need to break through. And so a book that really helped me was called the psychology of money, because it helps you understand I was almost embarrassed at my success. Because, one, I didn't want people around me to feel bad about themselves because I was so successful. And then two, I love my dad so much, but I was scared what he would think of me, because growing up, it was always, oh, those rich people in the Redlands, and now I'm the rich person in the Redlands. So is he going to think the same of me as he thought of them? Right? And I think breaking down those mental barriers is really, really important.
Brian Charlesworth 14:13
Yeah, you guys, those are both such great answers. So to summarize, we have put yourself in bigger circles because you don't think it big enough. I listened to something this morning, actually. It was a billionaire who was talking and he said, the single most important things you can do. He said, If you surround yourself with seven billionaires, you'll be a billionaire. You surround yourself with seven drug addicts, you'll be a drug addict. So, I mean, that's pretty simple. That's pretty simple way of explaining what you just said, Right? Elizabeth, yeah. And then, Desi, to your point, we all have something in our heads. I have a neighbor here. Friend of mine lives in our neighborhood, and he has a like a, I don't know, his car is probably worth 500 grand, something like that. Super, super nice car. Very rare, unique car. He actually hides it in his garage. Doesn't want any of the neighbors to see it. He sneaks out the back way of the neighborhood with it because he doesn't want anyone to know he has this car. So if that's the way he thinks, what do you think that does I mean to your point, if your dad always said something about, hey, this rich people here, whatever, whatever was being said, put something in your mind that made you feel it wasn't okay to be that, right? And many of you guys probably have this problem. I mean, I think we all do. We've all been taught things from our childhood, things that we can't discover until we really go in and look. So I'll share this right now. I went to William lamb's upgrade program. Did the full gamut. He has three levels of training. I did all three in one week, and this was about three months ago. And since that point in time, everything in my life seems completely aligned, because he basically did a reprogramming of my brain, kind of like we reprogram our software, right? Like we all upgrade. He calls his company's called upgrade, but we all upgrade our software. Every time windows comes out with an update, or every time Microsoft iOS comes out with an update, I update my Mac, right? Why? Because it has to do that or things start to happen. Things don't start to work right. The battery dies quickly, whatever it is. Same thing with our mind. We have to upgrade our mind in order to not have that kind of programming from when we were a child, still in there, right? Or that kind of programming. I mean, we may have that kind of programming that comes from a spouse or our best friends or so many times, the people who do it most are family members, like siblings who see your success, and then they're like, oh, you can't do that. Why do you work so much? Oh, do you really need that much? You know, all the things that get said, right? So Desi, I totally, totally feel where you're coming from there. And you know, we all have our own journey, and it's whatever you want. We can't think about what other people around us want, right? So anyway, it's a great discussion. Anything else you guys want to add to that? No, no, okay, so here we are. You guys, thankfully have decided, hey, we're going to, we're going to be these, you know, amazing business women. We're going to go into these little markets, and we're going to have massive businesses. And so you got beyond that with the mindset. But then I mean, how do you actually execute on it? Like, what are you guys doing different on a daily basis that others in your market are not? I
Desi Williams 17:34
answer my phone when people call me. Oh, what a
Brian Charlesworth 17:37
concept. So where you pick up your phone, you do answer your phone, because three minutes before we were supposed to record this, to record this podcast, I let you know I called it to say, hey, you know what? I just found out, I'm supposed to be on a webinar in three minutes. You answered and we were able to make the shift. So yes, you do answer your phone. What else? So
Desi Williams 17:56
I think there's more to than that. Like one thing Elizabeth and I have talked a lot about is just implementing things that people aren't doing in other markets. So for example, when we moved here, nobody was taking professional photos. I got my first listing, and I was looking for a professional photographer to come photograph it, because that's all I'd known. I was a baby agent in Southern California, and so I'm like, there's nobody here that does that. What am I supposed to do? So I went and bought a camera at Best Buy. Like we went and got all this stuff, and then I made my husband learn how to take the photos. So he got to take my photos for a while, and then we developed a system where I could take them myself with the camera. He had it set up. I just press one button and it does the bracketed images, and then we send it off virtually to be edited overseas. And so I think that was like one step. The next thing nobody was doing staging. And I know Elizabeth that was the same in your market, so you implemented that as well.
Brian Charlesworth 18:48
So one thing I want to hit on with you, Desi, you moved from California to a small town in Idaho and didn't know anybody. So when you don't know anybody, how do you go from like usually, most people rely on their people they know to build a real estate business, right? I mean, we all know that soI is how we build a business. So you go into this little town in Idaho, you have no Soi. What did you do to build an Soi?
Desi Williams 19:27
The first thing I did was went to the public library with my children, and I was crying because I was lonely, and I met this mom there, and she immediately invited me to her house for burritos. So we had burritos, and then through that connection, she introduced me to several other moms, and then I went my husband's boss was developing this neighborhood, and so my actual first listing was I got my courage up, and he'd been using the same agent for 100 years, and I said, hey, could I have a meeting with you? I think I could really benefit you. And here's what I'm going to do, to sell this massive community of 14 homes that you're building. And. And so we had that meeting, and he said, Fine, I'll let you list it for a point 5% commission on the listing side. And I'm glad I did it, and I'm glad I did, because it was through that and through the marketing. And like leveraging that first listing, I sold all 14 of those houses, and I double in ended 12 of the 14. And so that's kind of started building it. So that's one way. And
Brian Charlesworth 20:24
also, when you're brand new, like, I know so many people, and this is, this is part of grit, right? You're going to do whatever. I know so many people that have even come to me and said, Hey, I just want to be in your world. I'll work for free for 90 days, like, I just want to follow you around, right? And there are a lot of people that do that, and that's kind of what you did in that scenario, right? Yeah. So, so when you like
Elizabeth McNally 20:46
to start, if I can comment on that, I actually really think that there's something lovely about new person energy. Like, I think people can really leverage and lean into that. Like, I'm new I'm so excited. Well, I think people want to give people an opportunity to show what they're made of, right? And I love new agents for the exact reason, like, I know if they put their all into it, they're going to have a fantastic first year, right? Yeah, especially
Brian Charlesworth 21:12
when you see the hustle and you see the grit, and you see, like, if they're that kind of person, they're going to be successful,
Elizabeth McNally 21:19
right? Absolutely. And people want to support that. They want to be a part of that, right? I think that's wonderful.
Brian Charlesworth 21:25
And people want to see them be successful, right? To your point, I think Elizabeth, like, if somebody's like that, I want them to be successful. I want to do whatever I can to help them be successful, right? But if they're just, if they want everything just handed to them, like, and there are a lot of agents that just want leads handed to them, and so much so that they don't even follow up on the leads they get. That's right, that's, that's the total opposite, right? Yeah. Do you want to see that person be successful? Like, if you have a, if you have a person on your team that's like, that, do you really care if they're successful? Or is it okay if maybe they just leave and go a different way. I
Elizabeth McNally 22:01
know that's just right, right? You want them to have exactly what you said, like the name of your show, grit. It's like, if you got grit and you're tenacious and excited and willing to try things and willing to make mistakes, you're going to do really well. Yeah,
Brian Charlesworth 22:14
cool. What are some other things, maybe, Elizabeth, that you're doing that really differentiate you from others in your market.
Elizabeth McNally 22:22
Well, like, as Desi was saying, it was like trying different things that elevate the marketplace. I mean, I know in bigger centers, things are common, but we were the same. We brought in professional photography. I was one of the first ones to implement that, and then using social media, like I've been doing my Facebook and social media for years beyond when people are just like, starting to get onto it. So it's like, trying new things, just adding and offering more value add. So the staging was a big part for me. So we did a lot of staging. People couldn't figure out, like, Why did my listings look so good? Why were they selling so quickly? Why were they selling so close to list price? Like, it was just like, because I was doing all of these things on the back end to make sure that my listings were selling, because that was actually my job. Like, it just wasn't about getting my face out there. It was if my listing sold, that was my very best advertising, yeah. And then it was about getting the home sold Exactly. So I was very focused on that. And then again, just, you know, answering my phone, making sure we're constantly connecting with our client base. Touch points all the time. I just feel like, you don't want to sell them a house, and then forget about them, right? You want to go back appreciation events. We're sending out mailers to them. Thank yous that kind of thing, and that's been really good. Like, word of mouth has been amazing for us.
Brian Charlesworth 23:43
Did you guys actually start a staging company? Or did you hire a stager? Or how did you do that? I
Elizabeth McNally 23:50
just kind of grew it grew from just like staging, from buying a few things at like, well, actually home, since didn't exist at that time. So, you know, maybe it would have been just like Walmart or whatever, and we'd put a few things in. We'd reorganize the house, like, judge it, as we call it, and then it just built and built. And now I have a full on staging company. I have a huge, like, 4000 square foot shop filled with furniture, and, yeah, we've got a company in charge for that. In the beginning, I did it as value add, and now we just have it built into the commission as a value add. Okay,
Brian Charlesworth 24:29
what was, what do you call that? What was in the quotes, value add is that? What do you call it? You said you call the staging something. What was that?
Elizabeth McNally 24:38
Oh, judging. I would judge your house, like, you know, poof it up. Like, make it pretty, move things around and stuff. Like, I've never Canadian. Oh, you've never heard that. Do you know that term? No, oh yeah, that's my Canadian, I guess. Yeah. So, yeah, we would do that. And I mean, now it's just a huge part of. What we do, we basically stage every house we touch. And so everything like goes out, it's just beautiful. And everybody in the city knows that that's if they're going to be looking at those pictures, that's our listing. So yeah, that's cool,
Desi Williams 25:15
similar. So when I started like, I haven't grown it that big, but I would just use furniture from my house, yeah?
Elizabeth McNally 25:21
And so I did that too.
Desi Williams 25:24
Yeah. It's like, oh, where can we set to watch TV? You don't need to watch TV. Go outside and play. Have no couches or dining tables. So, and now we hired. I have a friend who's a shopping addict, and so now she does all of our staging, because she just has, she spends too much money on furniture all the time. And so her husband said
Elizabeth McNally 25:40
to put her, I think what the moral like, sort of, the big, sort of, I guess the moral of the story, or whatever you want to call it, is, is that people want to see that you're working like they want to know that you're working for them, right? And that was for us, our biggest sell was we are going to go to work like when my dad was a real estate agent in the 90s, and that was one of the piece of advice that he gave me. He said, Ask them for the job, tell them you want to work for them, and show them you're working. Just don't put up a sign, you know. And that I took that to heart, and that's kind of where we built out from there. Yeah,
Brian Charlesworth 26:12
great. What else I'm just thinking like you guys truly dominate your markets. So what are some of the other secret sauces that have gotten you to where you are. I've got one
Desi Williams 26:27
Desi systems. Yeah, I was gonna say implementing a CRM. So the year I implemented a CRM, I went from like 40 transactions to 89 that year, and it was nobody else in our market has a CRM. I've met with several agents who have looked at switching over to our team. They're like a CR what I'm like, and so like all their past clients are now becoming my clients because I'm following up.
Brian Charlesworth 26:52
So if you're in a small market, your competitors are probably not using a CRM, which means they're doing no follow up. That's a big differentiator. Yeah,
Elizabeth McNally 27:01
that's gonna be the game changer for people, yes,
Desi Williams 27:03
and I know it sucks to get into it, and I know it's hard and it's overwhelming, but that would be my one piece of advice to any agent, if you are not utilizing a CRM like, Just do it.
Brian Charlesworth 27:14
No, wait a minute, Debbie, you said it sucks to get into it. Why would you say that? What sucks about being able to follow up with your customers.
Desi Williams 27:21
Well, so my husband, like, kept trying to force it on me, right? He's like, you have to use a CRM. You have to use a CRM. And then one day I came home, and I was like, so there's this thing, and you can, like, put in their names, and then it tells you when to follow up with them. And he's like, yeah, it's a CRM. I was like, Oh, I'm gonna use one. So he already had the one for me to use, and so it's, I'm just going to say it's like, because I have this limiting belief where it's like, it has to be my personal cell phone, it has to be on my phone, or it won't work. But we've switched all of our signs to the CRM number, and now nobody has my, well, some people still do, but you know, all new people have my CRM number, and it's so great because it tracks everything. And so you can go back and look at the notes and everything, and you just know, oh yeah, Debbie's mom had a heart surgery three months ago. I should check in and see how Debbie's Mom's doing, whereas I wouldn't have remembered who Debbie was even a few months later. So, but it's just overwhelming to think about. Oh, well, now I have to download this app, and then I have to go in it, and then I have to use it when it's I know for
Elizabeth McNally 28:21
us, because before we got into our CRM, we had already really built out a very big business, because I've been doing real estate for 20 years now in Medicine Hat. So getting all that client base converted into the CRM, that would be the piece that I would say would kind of suck, and has sucked, but I know you know what Desi said, like your your business just explodes after that, because it goes back to exactly what we've been talking about doing is connecting with your clients, making sure that they know what we're thinking about and that we're thinking about them. What are the next steps? And that's the part that like, with what I've heard from Sisu, I think is really cool, is that client portal, like, it's just people like to know what's going on. You don't want to just leave them hanging, you know? Yeah,
Brian Charlesworth 29:10
and that's the thing. There are agents that, the agents that are great, they all use the CRM, and they all put good notes in it, so that when they do follow up, they know exactly what to say. And they know, you know. But then there are those that, like, complain, like it's a hard thing to actually put notes into a place so you can go back and look at them, and those are the agents that will never make it right. I mean, we all know that. But why is that? What's that? Elizabeth, I said they'll just do okay. You know, they'll just be okay.
Desi Williams 29:39
Yeah, I would say the biggest struggle is so like, you leave an appointment, right? And you're like, Oh, I've got to hustle to the next one, and I don't have time to do it right now. And then you get to the next one, and then it's like, oh, they want to write an offer. I gotta write the offer really quick. And then you're like, oh my gosh, it's six o'clock. Like, I need to go home and cook dinner and run my kids to sports. So what I found really helpful is just as soon as I leave the appointment, before I. Start my car. I take two minutes to voice memo a no into my CRM and that's it, and then I'm done. I don't it doesn't have to take a lot of time.
Brian Charlesworth 30:11
We had a lady here at Behind the Scenes this week, behind the scenes of a real estate machine event we do every quarter, and she actually said, when she leaves a listing, and gets that listing, she fills out the intake form in Sisu from her car, from her phone right there, so that it can go and start being worked on by the TC, right and so, so it's been life changing for them so, and using
Desi Williams 30:36
that system does help you leverage because with just Sisu, one transaction manager and myself like that. I did 125 deals with just those three. Yeah,
Brian Charlesworth 30:48
yeah. Okay. I want to go back. I think you guys like whatever you're doing. The thing I notice about you guys is the biggest thing I notice is mindset, to be honest, you're going to do whatever it is for your customers to do the best job possible. You're going to do whatever it is to talk to customers. You have no fear. Fear is usually what kills everybody's success is self talk in our minds, right? Neither of you have any of that self talk. From what I can see, have you had a problem? Have you had self talk in the past? And if so, how did you get beyond that? Yeah,
Elizabeth McNally 31:22
I can go ahead with that. Absolutely. I really struggled with, like, imposter syndrome. I would have, I got really, I got to the point where I was really burnt out. And we, you know, just even, like, starting to not want to pick up the phone, like, you kind of get, like, it's, it builds off of itself, right? And for me, I had to just reach out. I had to make a community outside of what I had known at the time and and that's where, you know, I was connected with people like spring and Desi and, you know, the inner circle group like that, just like brought me out of my shell and and reading books and audio books and podcasts and stuff like that to help you get out of that headspace. Because once it starts, it gets pretty heavy, right? And you get burnt out. If
Brian Charlesworth 32:09
you were kind of in that space before you came into inner circle, that was just a few years ago that you were in that space, is that right? Yeah, oh yeah. 100%
Elizabeth McNally 32:16
well, because we were so busy, like I was just snowed under. I'm a mom. There's a lot of things that go along with that as well, right? And and I really care genuinely about my clients and how things are going. So everything just was, building, building, building. And so, yeah, there's a lot of negative self talk. Like, why am I doing this? Like, I didn't want to do it the next day, like, I got, I got to the point where I was so burnt out, and that was, yeah, I'm just a couple years ago, I was doing some Googling, and I was finding some different things to do, and I went to two different conferences, and spring break actually popped up as one of the conferences to go to. Didn't know anybody. I got on a plane, went down, I like, I basically fell in love with everybody that spoke. There was Mike, there was Spring, there was Sheron. I was just like, wow, this is so amazing. I didn't even know that this existed, right? Because where I'm from, that was, like, that wasn't even an option. People didn't even have teams. Like, I didn't even know what a team was really at the time. Like, I had a team, but I didn't realize it, you know? And then, yeah, just like, by having people to talk to and hearing how they solved problems or worked through things or ideas. It just it. It made a huge difference to me.
Brian Charlesworth 33:27
Awesome. So are you coming to spring break in March? Yes,
Elizabeth McNally 33:30
I am. I'm so excited. I'm actually gonna bring my team,
Brian Charlesworth 33:33
cool, cool. We'll be excited to see you there. Yeah, as of now, this year, we decided Sisu was actually partnering with spring to put on that event. So it's a, it's a dual event for both of us. So amazing. What about you? What what self talk did you have, and how did you get through
Desi Williams 33:48
it? So I would say, at first, I didn't want to try, because I knew this market was lacking professionalism. And I was like, well, I'll just mostly be a mom, and I'll just do like, 20 to 30 deals a year, because that's fine. And then I went to, I'm not, I wasn't never with Keller Williams, but I went to a Keller Williams bold event. And while I was sitting there, this like thing just flipped in my head, and I was like, One day my kids are going to grow up and leave, and what am I going to be left with? Like, I really want to build my career. And I was like, I want to go hard at this. I think I could take over this market, and that one switch, like we rolled out Tyson already had, like the CRM and the Sisu and everything ready to go, and we rolled that out. And that next year is the year I did 89 transactions. And throughout that time, I mean, you get the overwhelm you get, the mom guilt you get. I put my babies in daycare, you know? And it was, like, the hardest thing, and I mean, all of that. And then I had lunch with who I thought was a friend and a colleague, and she basically told me that I was taking business from everyone, and I was very selfish, and every single agent in the market hated me. And I was like, what they hate me, are you? Like, that's so crazy. So she's like, Yeah, you should do. Less, and then they'll like you again. So like, just do like, 40 to 50. And I, like, went and sat in my car and I cried. I didn't let her see my cry, but I cried, and I thought, You know what? What if my daughter came home from school and said her friend told her, like, maybe just don't score so many points. Like, then other people like you maybe just do like, 10 instead of like, the 16 you're usually doing. Like, Never would I want somebody to tell her to dim her light so that they could shine. And then I thought about all the lives I'm able to change. The more I do, the more jobs I can provide, the more clients I can impact, the more people that I can influence and help for the better. And so I decided that maybe that friend wasn't a great option for a friend, and that's when I kind of started looking for other people. And one of the things that's changed my life is at that spring break event, the same one Elizabeth went to. I don't think we met at that one. We met after we didn't, but Tyson made me go to breath work with Louie, and that changed my whole life.
Elizabeth McNally 35:58
That was amazing. I decided to and it was so amazing. Yeah, isn't
Brian Charlesworth 36:02
it amazing that you can go to a real estate conference and actually do breath work, which we will do again this year. So yeah, anyway, so in summary, guys, you both just shared that, getting in different circles, going to events, whether it be bold or whether it was spring break, it was spring break for both of you guys, in a sense of what you've just shared, and that's completely changed your worlds. And now here we are a few years later, and you guys are just like rock stars and yes, Desi, anybody that tells you to slow down and maybe you shouldn't do so much, you can have more friends that is not a person you should be around. So I hope, I hope you have distanced yourself from that friendship because that that is not healthy for anybody to have friends like that. That's like, that's the mentality of, Hey, we should give everyone a trophy, even though they all lost, right? So anyway, but you guys came to spring break. You both had this enlightening moments, and I think you spoke on spring break stage the following year, both of you together, right and now, here we are coming up on another spring break. But you guys have come from these small markets where it does get lonely. Desi, I heard you talk about before we started this call today, that gets lonely, or maybe that was you, Elizabeth, but it gets lonely being in a small market, right? It gets lonely not being able to have people to talk to. Because if you go to your competitor down the street and tell them all your things and strategize with them, that could be frustrating. So you guys have decided to start a mastermind for people who are in these small markets. Do you want to tell me a little bit
Elizabeth McNally 37:35
more about that? Yeah, go down near me. You go,
Desi Williams 37:37
I'll go. And then you go. So one of the things we found is that a lot of the stuff that people talk about on stage is typically geared towards large markets, and while we can implement some of it, some of it's really hard to implement in a smaller center, and it doesn't work as well as it would in a large space. And so we have to get creative and kind of tweak it to make it our own. And so we thought, Well, surely Elizabeth and I are not the only agents in small markets trying to do big things, and so we wanted to cultivate this community where we could bring those people together and really help give them the mindset, the tools, the systems, everything that they need to be able to just take over that market.
Elizabeth McNally 38:17
Yeah, the seed was planted, actually last year at Spring Break, when we got together to talk, and we called it selling big and small communities, and we've just branched off from there. So it's been a bit of a build, and now we're really excited we're going to be doing that in the next month here. We've actually started our Instagram account, and we've got a few things rolling out, and we're really excited to kind of just bring people together, share ideas, but also, you know, bring in speakers so that they can, you know, have percolate and come up with different concepts. From that, I'm just really excited about being able to connect with other people that are maybe in, like, exactly the small markets, like, just we're talking about being lonely, like, this is an opportunity that we can hopefully bring to people where they won't feel that way anymore.
Brian Charlesworth 39:03
I love it. So selling big and small communities is that the Instagram? What's the Instagram I need to go follow that? Is it? Yeah, I can selling big and small communities. Okay, so you guys go to selling big and small communities. It sounds like you guys are just getting ready to launch this. And so if somebody's connected to your Instagram page, they'll get all the updates, and they'll see what's going on there. And if you guys are in a small community, I can tell you, these are two women you want to put yourself in touch with and hang around so that you can think differently, because you can have tremendous amount of success even being in these small markets. And you have proof of it right here with these two. So you guys, thanks so much for being on the show today. Always. I love spending time with both of you and Elizabeth. I'm glad that you're healed from your tennis injury, which was actually created playing pickleball with me. So anyway, thank you both and everybody who's. Listening, if you guys will go hit like and subscribe, that will help this show grow even bigger, and it will help us get even more great guests who can share their stories and really have an impact in your lives. So thank you for listening, you guys, and we'll catch you on next week's episode of the grit podcast.
